Dont Panic
by Ironette3
Summary: ***Iron Man 3 Spoilers!*** A wise man once said: "We create our own demons." Then Tony Stark said it, 'cause he said it. Tony Starks demons, his memories from New York, come to haunt him in the 3 times he had panic attacks throughout Iron Man 3.
1. Panic Attack 1

Rhodey and Tony sat at a table in a small diner, catching up after their long time apart. They were discussing the Mandarin, which Tony kept bugging Rhodey about.

"Im not trying to be a dick-" Rhodey started, but paused when a little girl and an even smaller boy walked up to the table. "-Tator" he finished, pretending thats what he was planning on saying all along.

"Do you mind signing my drawing?" the girl asked, holding a peice of paper out to Tony.

"If Richard doesnt mind" Tony played along. Rhodey laughed and shook his head.

"You alright with this, Dick?" When Rhodey simply remplied with a 'yeah', Tony turned to the girl.

"Whats your name?"

"Erin" the girl replied. Tony looked down at the drawing. It was a pictured of him in the Iron Man suit, flying over Stark Tower with a nuke on his back, towards the big portal in the sky. He felt his stomach twist slightly. He looked up at the little boy next to Erin, who he presumed to be Erin's little brother.

"I loved you in A Christmas Story, by the way" he said. The boy could be the identical twin to the boy in the movie. Tony turned back to the drawing and started writing 'Help Me Erin'. Rhodey continued their conversation.

"Listen, the pentagon is scared. After New York... aliens? Come on. We need to look strong. Stopping the mandarin is priority, but its- its not-"

"Its not superhero business" Tony finished for him, still working on the drawing. He was getting frustrated. Suddenly everything was about New York.

"No" Rhodey agreed.

"I get it."

"Its American business."

"Thats what I said, its-" Tony started, then paused and covered his face with his hands.

"Are you okay?" asked Rhodey, taking in the scene.

"I broke the crayon" said Tony, stating the obvious. What was happening?

"Are you okay, Mr. Stark?" asked Erin. Her drawing had just been destroyed.

"Take it easy, Tony" said Rhodey, but Tony payed no attention to that, because what happened next set him off.

"How did you get out of the worm hole?" the little boy whispered into his ear. That was it. Tony stood up and pushed away from the table. He was breathing heavy. His heart felt like it was going to explode. His stomach was in knots. His eyes were wide.

"Tony" said Rhodey, worry clear in his voice. Tony turned and tried to run out of the diner, but it ended up as more of quick walk. He was slowed down by the amount of people, but he pushed through them towards the door. Muttering the occasional 'sorry' and 'I need to check on my suit', he made it outside.

"Tony!" he heard Rhodey yell, just before the door closed behind him. The Iron Man suit arrived on the sidewalk infront of the diner, and opened up. Tony walked straight into it, and it closed around him. He fell to his knees. He was starting to calm down a bit.

"Check the heart" he ordered Jarvis. "Check the- the- check the- is the brain?" he questioned, confused as to what was happening.

"No sign of cardiac anomily or unusal brain activity" Jarvis reported.

"Okay, so I was poisoned?"

"My diagnosis is that you have experienced an extreme anxiety attack" said Jarvis. That was the last thing Tony expected to hear.

"Me?" he asked, flabberghasted. The tapping on his helmet ended his conversation with Jarvis.

"Come on man, this isnt a good look. Open up." It was Rhodey. He was kneeling on the groun infront of Tony. Getting out of the suit was the last thing Tony wanted to do.

"Sorry, I gotta split" he said quickly before standing up and blasting into the sky.


	2. Panic Attack 2

"You know what this crater reminds me of?" asked Harley. Him and Tony were sitting in the rubble of what was said to be the sight of a suicide at the end of an alley. A soldier named Chad Davis apparently went crazy, built a bomb, and killed him self. An act that also killed five others. The shadows of five people were burnt into the wall, which was odd because there should have been six. The crater they sat infront if was most likely where the 'bomb' went off.

"No idea. And Im not- I dont care" replied Tony, knowing where this was leading.

"A giant wormhole, in um, in New York. Does it remind you?" said Harley, eager for Tony's answer. Tony rubbed his face with one hand, then looked at Harley.

"Thats manipulative. I dont wanna talk about it."

"Are they coming back? The aliens?"

"I dont know" said Tony, his voiced becoming strained. He looked forward. "Maybe, can you stop? Remember what I told you? That I have an anxiety issue?"

"Does this subject make you edgy?" asked Harley.

"Yeah, a little bit! Can I just catch my breath for a second?" Tony said, growing more panicked and more annoyed with Harley.

"Do u need a plastic bag, to breath into? Do u need medication?" Harley started to question.

"No."

"Do you need to be on it?"

"Probably!"

"Do you have PTSD?"

"I dont think so."

"Are u going completely mental? I can stop, if you- do you want me to stop?"

"Remember when I told you to stop doing that? I swear, youre gonna freak me out!" Tony snapped. He stared forward for a moment, then completely lost it. He stood up, his hands on the back of his head.

"Aw man you did it, didnt you. You happy now?" he exclaimed, before turning and starting to run.

"What did I say?" Harley called after him. Tony started ripping off his jacket.

"I need my suit" he breathed.

"Hey wait up!" Harley yelled, now running after Tony.

"I need my suit" Tony said again, breathless. Why did this have to keep happening? Why did people have to keep bringing up New York? Tony reached the end of the alley and grabbed a pole, which had a street sign on top. He threw his coat to the ground, and then did the same himself.

"Tony. Tony!" yelled Harley, now catching up to Tony. Tony took off his hate and rubbed snow on his face, the cold taking his mind off the panic a bit.

"What the hell was that?" asked Harley, looking down at Tony crumpled on the ground in the snow. Usually, Tony would have replied with a comment about how Harley was too young to swear. But instead, he crumpled the snow he held to his face in a ball and threw it at Harley.

"Your fault" he said between his heavy breaths. "You spazzed me out." Harley waited patiently for Tony to calm down. His breathing finally slowed, and his wide eyes went back to normal.

"Okay. Back to business. Where were we?" he said, and the two continued to figure out the mystery of Chad Davis' death.


	3. Panick Attack 3

Tony was driving down a secluded road, talking to Harley on the phone. Harley held the phone up to the Iron Man suit which was charging next to him so Tony could talk to Jarvis. Jarvis had found the location of the Mandarin.

"What are we talking about? Far East, North Africa, Iran, Pakistan, Syria? Where is it?" Tony asked, getting impatient.

"Actually Sir, its in Miami" the AI replied. Tony sighed. Jarvis had just finished explaining how he was ending sentences with the wrong cranberry, aka the wrong word.

"Okay. Kid, Im gonna have to walk you through rebooting Jarvis' system, but not right now. Where is he really? Just look on the screen and tell me where he is." Harley turned to the computer screen, and popped another smartie into his mouth.

"Um yeah, it does say Miami."

"Okay. First things first. I eed the armour. Where we at with it?" Tony said, starting to form a plan.

"Uh, its not charging" Harley replied. Tony, who had speeding, slammed on the breaks and pulled over. His suit wasnt available. What was he going to do? Crap.

"Actually Sir" Jarvis chimed in. "It is charging. The power source is questionable, it may not succeed in sustaining the mark 42."

"Whats questionable about electricity?" Tony snapped. "I need my suit! And then I cant- Im not gnna-I dont want-" he paused. He was panicking. "Oh god not again." He opened the car door and climbed clumsily out, his knees giving out as soon as he stood up. He sat in the snow, leaning against the car, breathing heavy, eyes wide and glassy.

"Tony?" came Harley's voice from inside the car. The door was still open, and since Tony had his phone connected to the car's blue-tooth, they could still communicate. "Are you having another attack? I didnt even mention New York!"

"Right! And then you just said it, by name, while denying having said it!" Tony said, his voice breaking on the last couple words. He reached behind him and gripped the car's back seat door handle with his left hand, his arm was around his stomach. The twisting pressure he felt in his stomach each time this happened was unbearable.

"Okay, um..." Harley mumbled, thinking of what he could do to help.

"Oh god, what am I gonna do?"

"Just breath. Really, just breath. Youre a mecanic, right?"

"Right."

"You said so."

"Yes I did" Tony agreed.

"Why dont you just build something?" Harley suggested. That was logical. Tony didnt answer immediatly. He started to calm his breathing, a plan immediatly forming in his head just from the kid's simple and obvious suggestion. Tony stood up.

"Okay" he said. He was still breathing heavy, but it was slower. He wasnt hyperventalating, he was just out of breath from the couple of minutes he spent panicking. "Thanks kid" he said simply. He climbed back in his car, and started his journy to Miami.


End file.
